U.S. patent number 5,060,960 [Application Number 07/302,383] was granted by the patent office on 1991-10-29 for combination wheelchair and lifting device.
Invention is credited to Robert D. Branscumb, William C. Ross.
United States Patent |
5,060,960 |
Branscumb , et al. |
October 29, 1991 |
Combination wheelchair and lifting device
Abstract
A wheelchair includes a seat panel which is adjustable in a
vertical direction upon the manipulation of a jacking assembly
beneath the seat panel by an attendant or person other than the
wheelchair occupant. During this shifting of the seat panel it is
guided by engagement of its corners with four vertical frame
members of the wheelchair. Armrests and side portions of the chair
frame are pivotable to an out of the way position to form an
enlarged planar surface area permitting at least partial reclining
of the occupant and ready shifting to a lateral surface such as an
adjacent bed. The wheelchair is alternatively supported upon four
small wheels, at least two of which caster or, upon two small front
wheels and two larger diameter drive wheels thereby offering the
most efficient manipulation by either the occupant or an
attendant.
Inventors: |
Branscumb; Robert D. (Kansas
City, MO), Ross; William C. (Kansas City, MO) |
Family
ID: |
23167526 |
Appl.
No.: |
07/302,383 |
Filed: |
January 27, 1989 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
280/250.1;
280/47.41; 280/647; 280/304.1; 280/657 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A61G
7/103 (20130101); A61G 5/1054 (20161101); A61G
5/125 (20161101); A61G 5/10 (20130101); A61G
5/1059 (20130101); A61G 5/1083 (20161101); A61G
2200/34 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
A61G
7/10 (20060101); A61G 5/00 (20060101); A61G
5/10 (20060101); A61G 5/12 (20060101); B62M
001/14 () |
Field of
Search: |
;280/647,648,42,650,250.1,304.1,226.1,220,221,223,638,657,658,47.41
;297/DIG.4,416,417,419,420 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Kashnikow; Andres
Assistant Examiner: Camby; Richard
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Litman; Richard C.
Claims
I claim:
1. A wheelchair for facilitating the transfer of a patient to and
from a bed comprising:
a framework assembly including a pair of vertical front support
bars having respective upper ends provided with a pair of mating
means and lower ends provided with a set of castor wheels, a pair
of vertical rear support bars having respective upper ends provided
with a pair of handle bars and lower ends provided with a set of
castor wheels, and a rectangular support member having a
horizontally disposed upper planar surface which is fixedly
connected at the corners to both pairs of the vertical support bars
adjacent the respective lower ends;
a seat panel of rectangular configuration which is horizontally
disposed above said rectangular support member, said seat panel
having openings at each corner thereof for slidingly engaging both
pairs of said vertical support bars and being hingedly joined to an
opposing pair of side panels which is displaceable from a vertical
position to a horizontal position;
hydraulic lifting means disposed between said rectangular support
member and said seat panel for vertical adjustment of the seat
panel; and
a pair of pivotable armrests having respective front end sections
provided with cooperating mating means for engaging said pair of
mating means on the vertical front support bars when in a parallel
position and respective rear end sections provided with
displaceable attachment means for slidingly engaging said pair of
vertical rear support bars, said pair of pivotable armrests being
displaceable from said parallel position to a position laterally
clear of said seat panel.
2. The wheelchair according to claim 1 including a storage tray of
rectangular configuration fixedly arranged beneath said rectangular
support member.
3. The wheelchair according to claim 1 including cushions attached
to said seat panel and interior surfaces of said opposing pair of
side panels.
4. The wheelchair according to claim 1 wherein said hydraulic
lifting means includes a pair of pedals which extend rearward for
foot actuation in raising and lowering said seat panel.
5. The wheelchair according to claim 1 wherein both set of castor
wheels are of relatively small diameter.
6. The wheelchair according to claim 1 including a set of removable
rear drive wheels of relatively large diameter.
7. The wheelchair according to claim 1 including a removable seat
back substantially spanning an area between said pair of vertical
rear support bars.
8. The wheelchair according to claim 1 including releasable
fastening means adjacent each corner opening of said seat panel to
provide for removal of the seat panel.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The field of this invention relates generally to mobile land
vehicles and more particularly, to an improved wheelchair and is
especially directed toward an improved combination of such
wheelchairs and cots. This invention is also directed to an
improved vehicle for moving invalid patients between a bed and a
wheelchair. A lifting device is included in the wheelchair to
facilitate such transporting of patients.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Wheelchairs, as a matter of interest to hospitals, patient
facilities, and private persons, are a major concern. For the most
part, wheelchairs are designed to transport patients from one
location to another with a minimum of difficulty. Indeed, most
wheelchairs include the capability for allowing the wheelchair
occupant to move the chair of his own accord. Predominantly, this
is done using human arm and hand power. However, there are those
designs that involve motorized driving means.
In cases where a patient is capable of driving their own chair, the
difficulties of the hospital or support staff that may be concerned
with such propulsion are minimal. Usually, such handicapped persons
can manage for themselves and are able to help the attendant in
whatever fashion necessary during transfer to and from the
wheelchair.
However, there is a much larger concern when medical officials are
required to move a patient that is incontinent or has the
functional loss of one or more limbs. Such patients often must be
moved completely with the help of others as they do not have the
capacity of independent motion. In such circumstances, especially
in the hospital environment, these patients may require the help of
two or more attendants to move the individual from chair to bed or
vice versa.
DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART
There have been numerous attempts at providing improved wheelchairs
for paraplegic patients. Exemplary patents include U.S. Pat. No.
3,381,973 issued to Carr, U.S. Pat. No. 3,787,089 issued to
Wrethander, U.S. Pat. No. 3,968,991 issued to Maclaren, U.S. Pat.
No. 4,405,142 issued to Whetshire, U.S. Pat. No. 4,453,732 issued
to Assanah et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 4,542,918 issued to Singleton.
These patents disclose various features facilitating the transport
of wheelchair occupants but fail to suggest the unique combination
provided by the instant construction.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
By the present invention, an improved wheelchair is disclosed. With
the instant apparatus, the transportation and handling of
incontinent and invalid patients is noticeably simplified and will
often require the attendance of only one capable person.
Accordingly, one of the objects of the present invention is to
provide an improved wheelchair that facilitates the movements of
patients from bed to wheelchair and back.
This invention provides for a wheelchair including a hydraulic pump
below the patient seat panel. The pump is foot-actuated much in the
same way as the traditional barber's chair. In the instance where
the patient must be moved from chair to bed, the nurse or attendant
is able to raise the chair seat level to that of the bed level.
Thus, the attendant is not required to summon help as he or she
does not need to physically lift the patient from the chair. The
individual may be moved in the seated position to bedside.
Especially useful with this invention is the fact that the
wheelchair can be transformed into a temporary bed facility. In
this arrangement, the attendant may raise the chair seat to the
level of the bed, lay the patient down on the wheelchair cot and
proceed to move him/her to the mattress. The combination of the two
features of this invention allows for simplicity of movement
whereby the attendant can move the patient without aid. This
potential will save hospital time, especially when other patients
require the attention of attendants and nurses. Presently, these
individuals are required to focus their attention on a single
patient.
Especially important to this design is the fact that the individual
charged with the care of an invalid patient reduces his/her time
with the patient in relation to movement. Thus, this person is
allowed to attend to the concerns of the patient more fully, and
not neglect the patient because of the frustrations associated with
the moving of the patient. Such an individual may be a private
individual caring for his or her relative who has recently become
paralyzed or otherwise dependent upon a wheelchair.
An additional object of this invention is to provide an improved
wheelchair including a seat that may be removed from the
wheelchair. This is of concern to those individuals charged with
the care of incontinent patients. In a hospital situation, the
removal of the seat may allow for the replacement with an unsoiled
seat and thus make the chair immediately useful for another
patient. The second patient need not wait for the chair to be
cleaned and serviced.
This feature is of particular importance to those individuals
caring for incontinent patients. After returning a patient to their
bed, the seat may be removed and cleaned in a separate location.
The attendant need not move the entire chair to a location where
cleanup is accomplished.
Likewise, the backrest may be removed from the wheelchair frame to
permit lowering of a patient's back or to facilitate cleaning and
replacement of the chair backrest.
Still another object is to provide an improved wheelchair having
alternate wheel assemblies operable to accommodate two primary
functions. Small rear wheels may be used when a nursing attendant
is pushing the chair. Alternately, the small wheels may be
immobilized as larger diameter wheels are installed to accommodate
a paraplegic patient.
The small wheels, all of which may caster, offer a great deal of
mobility to the person pushing the wheelchair. Such an attendant
would not be encumbered with the obvious difficulties offered by
the large conventional rear wheels. The use of the smaller wheels
allows for a wheelchair of lesser width. This may be particularly
important to those persons who are required to move an invalid
patient through the hallways of his/her home.
However, the large rear wheels offer an alternate approach to the
situation. If the person who uses the chair is a paraplegic, he/she
may wish to be independently mobile. The use of the large rear
wheels allows the patient to push himself to whatever destination
they may have in mind.
With these and other objects in view which will more readily appear
as the nature of the invention is better understood, the invention
consists in the novel combination and arrangement of parts
hereinafter more fully described, illustrated and claimed with
reference being made to the attached drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the wheelchair device showing the
pertinent features of the invention;
FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1 and illustrates the displacement
of various components into alternate positions; and
FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of the seat panel.
Similar reference characters designate corresponding parts
throughout the figures of the drawings.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
The combination wheelchair and lifting device 100 which the subject
of this invention is generally illustrated in FIG. 1 by a
perspective view.
The basic frame of the combination wheelchair and lifting device
100 comprises, among other things, four upright members including a
left front support bar 116, right front support bar H 117, the left
rear handle bar H and support 110, and the right rear handle bar H
and support 112.
The left front support bar 116 and the right front support bar 117
are provided with topmost holes or other mating means to accept the
lower segments of each of the left pivotable armrest 101 and the
right pivotable armrest 102. The illustration of this functional
arrangement may be found in FIG. 2. Each of these armrests is
provided with a padded cushion at their superior portions. These
cushions are designated by the left detachable armrest cushion 132
and the right detachable armrest cushion 133.
Each of these armrests is connected to its respective rear support
bar 110, 112 by displaceable means such as the cylindrical collars
99. These collars simply are fitted loosely over the rear support
bars 110, 112 such that the armrests 101, 102 may be lifted from
their connection to the front support bars 116 and 117, and moved
arcuately to the side. Again, FIG. 2 is a helpful illustration of
this function.
Below each of the pivotable armrests 101 and 102 is a movable panel
arrangement. On the left, the arrangement is designated by the left
side panel 103. On the right, the corresponding part is the right
side panel 105. Each of these side panels 103 and 105 is fitted
with a cushion 106 for the comfort of the individual using the
wheelchair. Both cushions 106, 106 will be seen to face one another
when the side panels 103 and 105 are elevated, as in FIG. 1.
The seat portion of the wheelchair can be divided into two separate
parts. The main body of the seat is the detachable seat panel 107
of rectangular configuration. Located atop seat panel 107 is a seat
panel cushion 108. The seat panel cushion 108 is designed such that
the patient is afforded the maximum comfort while in the wheelchair
and may be releasably attached to the seat panel by any suitable
means such as Velcro or the like.
Associated with the detachable seat panel 107 are two additional
features of the present invention, one of which is also associated
with the side panels 103 and 105. At the four corners of the
detachable seat panel 107 there are attached hinge assemblies 401
shown most clearly in FIG. 3.
One of the hinge assemblies 401 is permanently fixed to the
vertical edge of the detachable seat panel 107 at each one of the
panel corners and includes a pivotal gate 402 adapted to overlie a
notch or opening 403 adjacent each corner of the seat panel 107. A
hand-tightened screw 410 is threaded into the body of the
detachable seat panel 107 by the user to thusly captively position
the seat panel relative to the four vertical portions of the
supports 110, 112, 116 and 117. The clearance between the frame
supports and the openings 403 in the seal panel will be understood
to be minimal such that the seat panel is substantially stable in a
horizontal plane.
The side panels 103 and 105 are provided with suitable releasable
fasteners 404 operable to hold the side panels 103 and 105 upright
as in FIG. 1, and which are operable when the attendant wishes to
move the side panels 103 and 105 to the horizontal position to
transform the wheelchair to a cot/stretcher arrangement as shown in
FIG. 2. Appropriate hinge means 405 is selected to accommodate the
above-described displacement and retention of the side panels in
the two alternate positions.
At the rear of the wheelchair, spanning the rear supports 110, 112,
will be seen a detachable, flexible backrest 109 having mating
fasteners such as Velcro strips 406 appropriately located so that
the ends of the backrest 109 may be quickly attached to, removed
from or adjustably secured around the right and left handlebars
110, 112 or, about supplemental support bars 407 as shown in FIGS.
1 and 2.
Up to this point, the discussion of the preferred embodiment has
revolved around the features above the detachable seat panel 107.
Now will be described the features of the present invention that
are arranged below the seat panel.
The front and rear support bars 110, 112, 116, 117 are joined by a
planar support member 118 which will be seen to serve to reinforce
the entire wheelchair structure so that it functions in a more
stable manner.
In addition to the rectangular planar support member 118, a cargo
tray of rectangular configuration 126 is disposed therebeneath and
obviously will further strengthen the wheelchair structure. The
tray 126 includes four upstanding sidewalls 127 serving to keep any
cargo located on the tray from rolling off when the wheelchair is
in motion. Obviously, the panel sidewalls 127 likewise serve to
strengthen the wheelchair structure.
Mounted upon the medial portion of the planar support member 118 is
a lift assembly 201. This assembly functions to raise and lower the
seat panel 107 upon the activation of a respective one of the two
rearwardly-extending foot pedals 202, 203, one of which controls
the raising while the other controls the lowering of the seat panel
107. The lift assembly 201 may comprise a hydraulic pump or any
other suitable jacking mechanism. Raising and lowering of the seat
panel 107 is done to facilitate movement of the patient from the
wheelchair 100 to his/her bed and vice versa.
Extending from the front support bars 116 and 117 are the right
footrest arm 121 and the left footrest arm 120 and which terminate
with any well-known type of foot platform 408. Each footrest arm
will be seen to project rearwardly to join the two frame members
117, 112 and 110, 116 respectively, thereby further strengthening
the vehicle framework.
The left and right footrest pedal platforms 408 are hingedly
connected as at 124 to allow for the arcuate movement of the
footrest platforms from the horizontal to the vertical position, as
is well-known. This particular arrangement is helpful when moving
the patient, as the feet of the patient may be placed on the floor.
This prevents the patient's weight from pushing the wheelchair in a
rearward direction when lifted from the chair.
At the bottom of each of the four support bars, 116, 117 and 110,
112 there are provided front and rear caster assemblies 129 and
128, respectively. This will permit the maximum manipulation of the
wheelchair 100, even within its own wheel base, when being handled
by an attendant through grasping of the handgrips H, H.
Adjacent the bottommost portion of the frame rear support bars 110,
are two outwardly-projecting stub axles 130 adapted to removably
support the large diameter occupant-propelled drive wheels 131. To
utilize the drive wheels 131, the rear caster wheel assemblies 128
are elevated by manipulation of suitable adjustable catch and
attachment means 128' whereby the weight of the rear of the vehicle
will be supported by the drive wheels 131. The catch means may
include a removable pin 128a selectively insertable through
openings in the frame members 112 to position and retain the rear
wheel assemblies 128 at the desired elevation.
The ability to adjust the height of the vehicle rear not only
immobilizes the caster wheel assemblies when desired but also
facilitates the removal and replacement of the large drive wheels
131 since the smaller wheels when lowered, in effect, provide a
jack to allow removal of the large wheels without having to hold up
the back of the vehicle.
From the above it will be appreciated that ready means have been
provided to allow for the maximum manipulation of a wheelchair,
either by the patient or an attendant and wherein when necessary, a
single attendant may convert the vehicle to allow lateral
displacement of the patient in a plane coincident with that of the
adjacent, disparate surface.
It is understood that the present invention is not limited to the
sole embodiment described above but encompasses any and all
embodiments within the scope of the following claims.
* * * * *